Befouled Heart
by WandererBaron
Summary: Sequel to Mad Love. What does love mean to an artificial intelligence (AI)? The fine line that distinguishes simple desire to dangerous obsession is often overlooked, and sometimes one doesn't always get the person they think they deserve. RockmanxMedi or RockMedi, minor RockmanxRoll, yandere!Roll, minor NettoxMeiru and NettoxJasmine, mentions of EnzanxAnetta.
1. What's Yet to Come

Running…

That was all he could do right now. It was ironic that he, one of the considerably strongest NetNavis around, was fleeing for his life. The alleys of Internet City were completely deserted and devoid of any artificial life or beauty whatsoever. The cyber building structures were wrecked, crumbling, and emptied. As a matter of fact, the atmosphere of the entire cyber world was shrouded in darkness and despair. He was cut off from his human Operator and all sources of help from the external world.

He was all alone, but at the same time, he wasn't alone.

After all, he was running from something.

Or rather, from someone.

Rockman didn't want this to happen. As a matter of fact, it was the last thing he would've wanted. To be cornered the way he was now, powerless to have been able to save Internet City from its total destruction. This threat that was on his tail was worse than anything he could've imagined, worse than Cache combined with the Cyber Beasts.

It was even scarier than a ghost.

"You can't run from me forever~! Tee hee!"

His pursuer sang with childishly merciless glee, chasing him with such vicious tenacity. This one being alone was responsible for all this, all this disorder and the loss of all other life in the cyber world. How this was accomplished within a short amount of time was a mind-boggling cornucopia of disturbing concepts.

The blue Navi had no opportunity to look back and think how this had happened. The fact remained that he had no one to help him, he was powerless, and his hunter wouldn't slow down no matter what.

Out of the desperate programming to survive, he aimed his Rock Buster behind and fired several energy shots at his sole assailant. A couple shots missed the target and the rest were easily intercepted by the aggressor's own projectile attacks. Rockman didn't give up. He continued sending out more shots before ending his wild defensive barrage with a massive Charge Shot.

The smaller Rock Buster shots were shot down once again. Rockman witnessed with rising panic that his Charge Shot was dismantled with a wave of an arm instead of a projectile, showing off that this threat was resilient in purpose and strength.

Running was the only option he had now.

"Not good," Rockman muttered, forcing his legs to pick up the pace.

Unfortunately, he was only able to run so far. As his luck would have it, the blue bomber Navi had wound up trapping himself with barricading walls in front and at his sides. The assailant had caught up, preventing any hope of backtracking.

"Now, you're finally all mine~!" the pursuer sang once again, personage consumed in the blackness of shadows.

"I just have one thing to ask before… well, you know," Rockman requested as calmly as he could. "Why did you do all this? Was it really worth all this destruction?"

"They were all in the way," the pursuer stated mechanically. "They constantly meddled in between _us_ , so I had to do something about it before I lost you for good again."

"Was it worth deleting all of these innocent NetNavis? All our friends? All _your_ friends?!"

"You're the only one I'll ever need, _Rock-kun~_! And _I_ should be the only one you'll ever need."

She finished with that haunting malicious giggle that echoed in the empty area before taking a step out of the shadows. Rockman unconsciously took a step back, determined to salvage what was left of this situation.

"I'm sorry, Roll-chan, but I definitely have to draw the line at _this_. No, I should've drawn the line further back to when you began your atrocious crimes against the cyber world, which in turn has endangered the human world."

Roll merely laughed at his adorable attempt of resisting her once again. She bore her Devil Chip appearance, highlighted particularly with sinister purple eyeshadow, sharp heeled boots, a deviating provocative design on her battle outfit, and a seductive leer and grin combination that exuded pure uncontrollable lust for her vulnerable quarry.

She gingerly approached the blue Navi with catty desire, relishing the image of his beaten and submissive appearance through her visual senses. She licked her lusciously sinful lips. Her cyber sensual hunger was at its max. There was no way for her beloved to escape now. Her main rival, Medi, was the first to go, she made sure of that. Everyone else that opposed her, starting with her previous friends and allies, followed. Finally, to ensure that no one would ever get in her way to Rockman ever again, she took down the whole cyber world and cut off all communications from the humans.

Even if the real world managed to reestablish its connection to the cyber world, it would be too late.

"Just lie down on all fours and accept that we were meant to be," Roll hissed, smirking cruelly. "Your rebellious denial is starting to lose its charm, Rock-kun."

 _*WHOOSH!*_

Roll frowned, picking up movement from somewhere nearby their area. Rockman didn't move an inch, signifying for sure that there was someone else active here. The footsteps were quick and fleeting. Before long, she found herself being suddenly tackled from the side, courtesy of the sneak.

"Roll-chan?!" Rockman coughed incredulously.

The demented pink Navi landed on her back with her attacker pinning her on top. She looked up to see that the assailant was none other than Roll; well, her normal innocent self anyway.

"This ends now!" Roll demanded, securing her hands on her Devil self's shoulders.

"Oh, sweet little Roll-chan, how naïve you are to the realities of life," Devil Roll taunted, unfazed by her current position. "This all wouldn't have happened if you took the initiative and claimed Rock-kun before someone else did."

"You know as well as I do what happened the last time I went to extreme measures," Roll countered, looking away guiltily.

"And now, look at this once lively world, all because of your hindering weakness and indecisive tendencies," Devil Roll resumed, smirking spitefully. "Look how pathetic you are."

"I didn't want _this_ to happen!" Roll cried out, shaking her evil self's upper body against the cold cyber ground repeatedly. "Why would you do this?! Why?!"

"Because you couldn't handle the truth," Devil Roll goaded nastily. "You couldn't accept the idea that Rock-kun wouldn't fall in love with you when there were better, more capable NetNavis out there for him to battle alongside with." She slyly narrowed her eyes for this next comment. "And make sweet, _sweet_ data links with." She remained eerily calm, waiting for her normal self to give into the madness. The true Roll was breathing heavily from her previous hysteria of an interrogation on top of Devil Roll's ongoing callous candor. "And you know what?"

 _*RUMBLE!*_

 _*SLICE!*_

 _*THUD!*_

Roll suddenly felt herself paralyzed in sheer terror as she heard something, ahem, roll towards her. The pink Navi hesitatingly turned her head to find Rockman's head separated from his body. Viscous blood was actually escaping from his head. The restless expression on his face was frozen.

Out of shock, she looked back to where he originally stood, only to discover that his remaining tattered body was captured by thorny vines and trapped upon the wall. His arms were spread out to the sides, but his legs were bound together below by the vines. To where his neck was a familiar bloody metal blade sticking out, having been the culprit that beheaded the beloved blue Navi.

"No…," Roll whispered in frantic dread, looking back at her Devil self. "Please stop! STOP!"

"If you can't have, then _no one will_!" Devil Roll screeched in maniacal triumph.

All the while as Roll lifted up the head with the traumatizing imaged burned into her memory, Devil Roll continued laughing at how low she arrived. Her breathing, the condescending laughter, the stress of reality was too much to bear.

This has been a total nightmare.

* * *

"… A nightmare," Roll gasped, having been jarred from sleep mode.

She blinked several times, regaining her bearings on her current situation. She was still lock up as a result of her crimes of assault, destruction, and deletion while under the Mad Love Chip's influence. It was already more than half a month since her incarceration into the Net Police's custody. She was deemed safe enough to be active instead of constantly being in suspended animation.

Roll knew that humans would sometimes have dreams while asleep, visions of random details that have been results from interacting with their external environment while awake and active.

So then, do Navis dream of sheep programs?

She wasn't sure about that, but there was this much that she knew to be true. That nightly playback of events she just had, watching her Devil self run rampant in the cyber world for the sake of claiming Rockman as hers alone was truly a horrific sight to see. This was only the first occurrence of such a phenomenon, but that wouldn't be enough to put her back at ease. She was starting to come into terms on how destructive her obsession could be upon intense instigation by a power like the Mad Love Chip.

When the Mad Love Chip crisis was averted and before the Net Police took her in, she accepted the fact that she lost the love competition to the nurse Navi, Medi, for now. Through her persistence and sincere devotion, she and Rockman were officially together. That was certainly more than enough salt that her wounds could handle.

However, that did not mean that she was going to give up on Rockman for good. She still loved him and blamed both herself and Medi for allowing him to be with the latter. A selfish part of her hoped that their relationship would fall apart due to having no spark or solid commitment, but upon coming online again a few days ago, her Operator, Sakurai Meiru, relayed to her that both Rockman and Medi were still going strong despite the long-distance relationship. Roll didn't press on the matter any further for the remainder of that day.

Likewise, Hikari Netto also maintained a constant friendly contact with Jasmine, but based from Meiru's observations and Netto's own responses, there does not seem to be anything big brewing between the two Operators in contrast to their Navis. Meiru also shared that she had indeed been uncomfortable at first with Netto actually becoming responsible enough to maintain contact with the Choina girl, but somewhat relaxed when he did the same with the likes of Laika, Dingo, and even Princess Pride. However, she grew to fondly accept Netto's associates as her own friends.

Roll wished she was a bit more level-headed like her Operator, even if Meiru did have her temperamental moments. Those, however, were a result of Netto being a careless idiot he still did not appear to pick up the heartfelt feelings Meiru did have for him. And a few of those moments did warrant a smack or kick or two from her in order to beat some sense into him.

The pink Navi floated about in her containment unit, which was fortunately spacious enough for her to stretch her legs. In an attempt to move on from the appalling events of the past, she looked forward to the future where she would finally be released from her sentence and reunite with Rockman and her friends. She even looked forward to participating in the fall festival that Densan Town was going to hold at the end of the month with her friends, even if Medi and Jasmine were going to drop in just for that activity.

Roll had hope for trying again and winning back Rockman the right way by making him see that she was a better partner for him than Medi. Once the month and her sentence would reach their end, she planned on appealing to him strongly enough to make him forget about the nurse Navi.

She also hoped, however, that her most recent nightly vision regarding the destruction of many precious lives, including Rockman's, would not come to pass.

But chances were that if individuals felt very strongly about something, then usually by the laws of the universe, it would happen one way or another.

* * *

 **Are you surprised?**

 **As you have just read, this is the beginning of the sequel that I never imagined I would desire to write. It's probably a good thing I left the ending of _Mad Love_ as ambiguous as I did.**

 **I guess watching** _ **Stream**_ **again at random times had motivated me to pursue this, though most of the episodes I wound up watching starred Jasmine and Medi, as well as that one episode with Enzan and Raoul wearing their disco disguises, and with Blues and Thunderman following along their antics. Far out, man!**

 **In any case, it rekindled my fascination for that famous NetNavi love triangle that is RockmanxRollxMedi.**

 **I have nothing against Roll and I even support RockRoll from time to time, but these ideas I get from watching _Stream_ are just too good to pass up. I don't know how consistent I will be in updating, but it shouldn't take too long to update.**

 **What do you patient readers think so far? Decent start?**

 **It's been slightly more than a year since** _ **Mad Love**_ **was published and completed.**


	2. Arrangements

**Unlike the prequel, I actually haven't decided on how long this one will be, if it would be another total of ten chapters or not. I'm just going to figure it all out as I write along until I've hit what I felt would be covered. However, I imagine I might cut some corners here and there if they're not that important to share.**

* * *

"We're nearing through the last week, Jasmine," Medi announced. "I hope you haven't forgotten."

"Of course not!" Jasmine replied cheerfully. "That was why we worked extra hard on our studies since we returned home. So we can go have fun again!"

The young medical practitioner was traveling up to her grandfather's hidden home up at the outskirts of Choina. Medi's tiny holographic form sat on her right shoulder, casually kicking her feet up while looking ahead through the bamboo all around them. They had just finished collecting more ingredients to concoct effective medicines and were on their way for one last task to finish.

And that was to appeal to Jasmine's grandfather to let her freely visit Japan again.

"I have no doubt that he'll approve," Medi remarked. "I'm really looking forward to see Rock-kun live again."

"You're really fond of him, aren't you?" Jasmine asked.

"He never ceases to amaze me," Medi added, gaining a faint blush upon her cheeks. "Have you tried appealing to Netto-kun as well?"

"Hmm, we've been partners since the whole incident with Duo and we still are, even if we haven't been as active as before," Jasmine mused. "I like being in his company a lot. But now that there isn't any crisis threatening the world, I feel like our destinies are becoming separate."

"That shouldn't matter," Medi reasoned fairly. "After all, Rock-kun and I have been making our new relationship work despite the long distance. That's the beauty of email and instant messaging. So it should be fitting that his Operator gets together with you. I approve of you two, of course. I think Netto-kun is a fine young man for you."

"But isn't that rushing it a bit?" Jasmine inquired. "I haven't lived in Japan long enough to decide if I would really settle down there. I still love Choina to the point that I'm too attached to let it go."

"That's why I also have an idea to suggest to Cardamom-san, Jasmine."

"What's that?"

"We can say that we want to study abroad and learn of the flora of the other countries for the sake of making more potent remedies," Medi explained. "That way, we can go live in Japan for a lengthy period of time as part of our studies and see if you can get accustomed there."

"Oh, I see now," Jasmine agreed before falling back into a pensive look. "But then, wouldn't Jii-chan expect us to live in other places like Ameroupe or Sharo? That would mean that we can't stay in Japan for long."

"That's a valid point, actually," Medi commented, thinking of another solution. "Well then, we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it. I hope this will work out in the end."

"Yeah, me too…"

"… Something still bothering you?"

"I was also thinking that even if we can live in Japan for as long as we want, there's still that other girl that always hangs out with Netto."

"Are you referring to Roll's Operator, Sakurai Meiru? What about her?"

"She seems like a nice girl and appears very close to him."

"Rock-kun told me that they've been next-door neighbors for nearly their entire lives. But even with history, that shouldn't matter. After all, I'm together with Rock-kun, not Roll. Plus, she's also indirectly responsible for letting Roll use that defective Yan Love Chip in the first place."

"That's all in the past now, though. No one holds it against her anyway. And besides, unlike you and Rockman, I don't think Netto seems interested in a relationship right now."

"Key words being 'right now,' you're giving up too easily on this, Jasmine. If I was able to get through to Rock-kun, then you shouldn't have any difficulty getting through to Netto-kun. You two have been staying in touch pretty well over the month, sending each other some emails a couple of times per week."

"Maybe. But you still have the advantage over me since you declared your relationship official before we left Japan."

"Will you stop doubting me and instead doubt your doubts? Just give it your best shot! Just be yourself."

"Hmm, okay! By the way, how far along do you think Netto and Meiru are in their relationship?"

"From what I previously gathered, nothing much. Meiru has been visiting and watching over Roll most of the time, so not much development there. She's just waiting for her Navi to be released soon so that they could attend the Densan fall festival with Rock-kun and the rest of their friends, us included."

"I see. Oh, we're getting close to Jii-chan!"

"Don't forget our plan in going to live in Japan."

The sagely grandfather stood outside of his humble home, waiting to greet Jasmine as she returned from her tasks from the land on the other side of the country. The Choina girl immediately waved and ran up to him for a big hug.

"My star pupil, you've really grown into quite the young woman," Cardamom remarked. "You've become wiser and more capable each passing day while I wait for my time to come."

"Don't say that, Jii-chan!" Jasmine whined with a pout. "You've got a lot of years ahead for you. I'll make sure of it!"

"Now, now, I've already done plenty for this world and you'll soon be taking up my mantle as a master of the healing arts," Cardamom assured. "Speaking of future responsibilities, it appears that you and your Navi have something on mind you wanted to share with me."

Jasmine blinked unconsciously a few times, amazed on how perceptive her grandfather could be time to time. She turned to face Medi, who was standing on her shoulder with the same surprised look her Operator just had. They both exchanged glances before facing Cardamom once more.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Medi commented.

"Jii-chan, there's actually something me and Medi are thinking about trying out," Jasmine began.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Cardamom asked with a twinkle in one of his eyes.

"In some top educational systems, students have been allowed to travel to different countries for specialized studying," Medi opened with. "Even though Jasmine and I are not part of any formal education, we want to study abroad to gain experience as top-rate pharmacists."

"Yeah, we feel that it'll help us grow and learn more about the world," Jasmine added as an appeal.

Cardamom responded with a low rumble of his throat as a sign that he was deliberating through his granddaughter and her Navi's interesting proposal. Jasmine and Medi did not move a single muscle as they anxiously waited for a livelier response from him, hoping for an approval and his blessing to go forth outside of Choina.

Their little area was nearly silent with the exception of their breathing. Cardamom then lifted his head up. Jasmine and Medi became very attentive to his answer.

"I only have one more question to ask before I give you two my final answer," he replied, receiving nods from the both of them as an urge to continue. "What brought about this desire to travel the world?"

The two females looked at each other, both feeling a bit uneasy about telling him their actual reason for leaving Choina at this moment. Moving to Japan to be close to a couple of close friends, in retrospect, did not have the immediate feel of productivity to their purpose as medical practitioners. As though he sensed their wavering, Cardamom's eyes narrowed slightly upon them. They felt a bit more intimidated by the passing second the longer his gaze lingered.

"Um, it's to…," Jasmine drew out, still trying to find the right words to justify herself.

"We just feel that… there might be… people…?" Medi mumbled to save her struggling Operator, suddenly finding some inspirational momentum to go on. "There might be people that are in need of special medical attention that only we can provide…?"

The nurse Navi mentally slapped herself on the forehead. The manner in which she enunciated her last sentence would certainly bring up a major credibility issue as she sounded completely unsure of herself. It didn't help that Cardamom's expression did not change at all. As a matter of fact, he looked like he became sterner after that.

Even Jasmine was starting to shake from the pressure, and the girl was usually hard to rattle.

"You really think I cannot see your true intentions?" Cardamom spoke up sturdily.

"…" Jasmine and Medi had no answer after that.

Cardamom then closed his eyes and smiled.

"You really do care for the lives of others. I see it well enough through your eyes and in your hearts. Well then, you're free to go. Good luck out there."

The old hermit turned and walked into his home, leaving his dumbstruck granddaughter and Navi behind. They comically blinked in succession, somehow unable to move any single muscle in their bodies.

"Did he just…?" Medi inquired, blinking once more.

"… I think so," Jasmine replied, giving a responding wide blink.

Inside his shack, Cardamom chuckled to himself.

"Your destiny with that of the Net Savior boy from Japan is wound tighter than you can imagine," Cardamom ruminated. "It goes beyond that of the comet that once was considered an ominous warning to our world." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well, time to get dinner started. Hopefully, that should be enough to pull those girls back so that they don't wind up standing outside the whole night."

* * *

 _Sometime later and elsewhere…_

"Netto-kun, you got an email," Rockman alerted. "It's from Jasmine."

"Ah, I was hoping to hear from her soon," Netto said eagerly. "It's almost the end of the month and the festival is coming up."

"You actually remembered about the festival?" Rockman jested.

"You know that Meiru-chan is making sure I don't forget so that I'd take her and our friends out," Netto replied, grinning self-consciously. "Anyway, what's the email about?"

"It says that Jasmine and Medi-chan are on their way to Japan tomorrow as they just booked their flight," Rockman shared. "… Oh? Looks like they also have some big news they want to share with us once they arrive."

"Did they say what kind of news it is?" Netto asked.

"They said it was 'big', but other than that, they just asked how our day has been and that they're looking forward to reuniting with us," Rockman explained.

"Cool!" Netto exclaimed. "It's funny that Jasmine usually doesn't notify us ahead of time of her arrival and usually just drops in on us while floating down with her umbrella."

"Then it must be something serious if she sent us an email to warn us of her arrival," Rockman pondered. "Should I send her a reply that we'll be waiting for them at the airport?"

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Netto concurred.

"Hey, Netto!"

Calling down from the sunset-drenched sidewalk was Meiru, waving over to him as she got closer. Netto smiled and waved back to her.

"Meiru-chan! How goes it?" Netto greeted.

"I just came from the Net Police station and guess what!" Meiru responded. "Roll is finally going to be released from custody tomorrow morning!"

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Netto remarked.

"Has Roll-chan been cleared of any possible aftereffects?" Rockman queried.

"Yep! All tests came out negative!" Meiru answered cheerily. "She has been allowed to be active over a week ago, so of course you should already know that, Rockman. She's back to her sweet self again. Also, she wants Rockman to be the first she sees upon her release."

"Well, I guess it should be safe for me to be close to her again," Rockman added rather awkwardly.

"Huh, what's wrong?" Meiru asked, having sensed the blue Navi's sudden uneasiness.

"We're actually going to pick up Jasmine at the airport tomorrow," Netto explained. "I just got an email from her that her estimated arrival time will be around 10:00 in the morning."

"Oh," Meiru grunted, suddenly understanding the implication behind Rockman's hesitation. "Well, it should all be water under the bridge now, right?"

"They should be on friendly terms, after everything they've been through," Netto added as an afterthought. "We're all friends and we've definitely been through worse before."

"So what would be the ideal way to go about this?" Rockman deliberated.

"Knowing you, you'd probably want to spend the rest of the day helping Jasmine settle in," Meiru said, turning to the side sullenly.

 _What's up with Meiru-chan?_ Netto thought, wondering why his red-headed childhood friend suddenly seemed depressed by mentioning his Choina friend.

 _You really don't get it, do you, Netto-kun?_ Rockman thought, picking up that particularly confounded look his Operator had.

"Hey, here's an idea," Netto said aloud. "How about we drop by the Net Police station to pick up Roll and then head over to the airport to wait for Jasmine?"

"You sure about this?" Meiru asked in concern.

"They'll have to face each other sooner or later, so it's best to resolve it now," Netto advised.

"That's… a really good point," Meiru agreed, impressed on her crush's use of common sense. Even she had her doubts about the NetNavis' confrontation, but through the way he said it, she felt that she could trust that it would work out in the end.

"Plus, I'd like it if you did join me in welcoming Jasmine back," Netto added. "We haven't spent much time together since you've been there for Roll since the beginning of the month. I missed you."

Meiru felt the pace of her heartbeat increase tenfold. The rapid blood flow made her cheeks glow bright red while she somehow struggled to share even her gratitude over the fact that Netto missed her and valued her company by a lot. She still hadn't mentally prepared for these kinds of situations.

"… I… uh…"

"Jasmine also sees you as a friend too. She's really awesome, isn't she? Kinda cute too! I miss her _so_ much!"

"… … … Netto."

"Yeah?"

 _*BAM!*_

"Ow!" Netto yelped, rubbing against the sudden red handprint on the side of his face. "What was that for?!"

"Sorry! Just felt like hitting you," Meiru huffed, folding her arms and turning away with a strangely adorable pout. "Baka."

"Netto-kun, maybe you shouldn't switch to complementing Jasmine while still complementing Meiru," Rockman advised with a nervous chuckle.

"I still don't understand girls," Netto grumbled, attempting to ease the pain. "… Ow."

"I'll still join you in picking her up if you're okay with it," Meiru announced, turning around with a softened and rather penitent look. "Just… be nice to her, okay?"

"Oh, of course!" Netto responded, brightening back up. "I'm glad you're okay with this, Meiru-chan. You're super awesome!"

The red-haired girl smiled tenderly from the praise before a memory resurfaced up in her mind. There was one more thing she needed to share now that she remembered.

"Before I forget, I ran into Yaito-chan earlier," Meiru announced. "She wanted me to tell you that her father's company is playing a big part in this year's fall festival and wants a large group of us to take part of it."

"But we're attending the fall festival together anyway," Netto pointed out with a raised brow.

"There's more to it than that," Meiru continued. "As part of helping Densan City as a whole become more culturally aware, they are adding in some unique traditions that're usually celebrated from the Western countries around this time of year. One is called 'Halloween' and another Yaito-chan mentioned is called the 'Day of the Dead.'"

"I've heard a bit about both, actually," Netto confessed, intrigued by her story so far. "I'm guessing our friends are involved with this because of Yaito-chan. So what do they want us to do? All I know is that for Halloween, there's a bunch of pumpkin carving and putting candles inside them to light them up like lanterns."

"Instead of dressing up in traditional robes, we get to wear costumes that, according to tradition, scare away evil demons and spirits back to the netherworld," Meiru concluded.

"Wait, did you just say… 's-s-spirits'?" Rockman shivered.

"Oops," Meiru gasped, remembering the blue Navi's phobia regarding paranormal ethereal beings, aka ghosts.

Apparently even the mere mention of those creatures were enough to send him up the cyber wall.

"… Excuse me," Rockman coughed before his holographic image on Netto's shoulder disappeared, signaling his retreat back into cyberspace.

"Don't worry about it, he'll get over it soon," Netto assured, though even he sounded doubtful over it as he scratched the back of his head. "At least, I think he will."

"Well, the good news is that we get free candy!" Meiru intervened in an attempt to turn around the mood.

"Ha! Now that's sweet, pun intended," Netto joked. "So then, it's you, me, Yaito-chan, and presumably Dekao, Chisao, and Tohru?"

"Yeah, and I believe Higure, Shuuko-san, Mariko-sensei, and even Anetta were invited by Yaito-chan to join in," Meiru added. "I think even the former WWW members from Maha Ichiban were taken in by Yaito-chan with the promise of additional funding for their restaurant."

"You know what would be funny is if somehow Yaito-chan and Anetta convinced Enzan to volunteer for it too," Netto said, smirking mirthfully at the thought. "That disco costume with the funny afro of his would certainly make the demons laugh themselves to death!"

"Who knows?" Meiru shrugged indifferently. "As for the Day of the Dead, it's the way some cultures honor and respect the deceased by preparing festivities for them as they believe their spirits return to this world for one set day around this time."

"As long as Rockman doesn't run into one, then I think we're fine there."

"I know there's usually a lot of food and dancing involved, and I believe one of the fun activities to do for it is decorating a skull mold with colorful sugar glitter and accessories."

"I never knew. They all sound really interesting."

"Anyway, I've got to get home. Nice talking with you, Netto! See you tomorrow!"

"Ok! Take care, Meiru-chan!"

As she went on her way, Netto looked back into his PET and attempted to get Rockman to respond to him. He also noticed the time and it was starting to get close to dark.

"Hey, Rockman, you alright in there?" Netto asked, beginning his trek home.

"Yeah, I've gotten over it now," Rockman's voice replied before his image reappeared on the PET screen. "I think I'm getting better on handling it."

"Just take it one step at a time," Netto reassured. "Anyway, it sounded like a bunch of us have been roped into showcasing these foreign holidays for the festival. I think it would be safe to guess that Navis are involved as well in dressing up in costumes for the Halloween thing. Hey! We should invite Jasmine and Medi to do it with us!"

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea," Rockman concurred. "What do you think they would want to dress up as?"

"We can ask them once we tell them all about it tomorrow," Netto said. "I hope the reunion goes well tomorrow. By the way, you and Medi have gotten really close, I noticed."

"I guess you can say that," Rockman commented with a slight sheepish blush. "At first I didn't understand why all these extremes, such as why she was really affectionate in the past and why Roll-chan behaved the way she did, but Medi-chan eventually made it clear to me after we saved Roll-chan. Then one thing led to another during our last few days together. And now we're like this."

To illustrate his point, the blue bomber Navi held up the index and middle fingers on his right hand and intertwined them.

"Well, it's because you're now close friends with her, isn't it?" Netto pointed out.

"But wait, there's more, Netto-kun," Rockman argued.

"How so?" Netto continued, appearing a bit frustrated as he felt that he was not understanding his brother of a NetNavi.

"I'm… not sure how else to explain it right now," Rockman said. "It just happens. Don't you feel anything when you're around Meiru or Jasmine?"

"Well, I've known Meiru-chan for a long time, so of course we're close friends," Netto surmised. "And Jasmine is really friendly and affectionate at times, which is nice. A bit odd, but still nice."

 _Was I really that dense like that before Medi-chan got through to me?_ Rockman thought, sweatdropping. "You know what? I'll just go ahead and make our reply email to Jasmine. Let's just call it a day?"

"Sounds good to me! I'm starving! I wonder what Mama made for dinner this time."

"Oh, Netto-kun…"

* * *

 **From a grim opening to a lighthearted second chapter, it seems like quite the mood whiplash. But you can expect some interesting, if not questionable, moments later on as the plot moves on.**

 **Please review!**


	3. Settling In

**Quite ironic for this chapter and a few future chapters to be posted as it's already some time past Halloween.**

 **Oh, well.**

* * *

The sentence duration had been set for a month, but to Roll, it felt practically an eternity being imprisoned. Through the first half of the month, she was unconscious to her environment and subjected to various tests as to ascertain of the Yan Love Chip's coding possibly still left behind within her system.

The test cases were formulated by both Hikari Yuuichiro and Eguchi Meijin, being the only two brilliant scientists that have knowledge of the nearly forgotten, but dangerous personality chip. They had exhausted their reserves to ensure that the chip's programming would be detected within a NetNavi's digital being.

There was no trace of it left within Roll's body.

But even with the high probability of having been cured of the Yan Love Chip, the Net Police felt that it was still too early to give the pink Navi her release. Instead, they simply reactivated her and gave her some freedom for the remainder of her captivity. That still wasn't enough to make her time any more comfortable. She just wanted to leave once all tests had proved negative on her.

It was only a few days now before the Densan fall festival began.

She was deemed to have earned that much from her good behavior.

"Roll is free to go," Commissioner Seishin Kifune declared. "I expect not a repeat performance from you, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Meiru said with a humble, grateful bow.

Kifune's assistant, Manabe Rin, accessed the Net Police network on a wall interface, typing in a sequence of characters before tapping the enter button. Meiru and Netto observed through a monitor on the cyber world side that Roll's cell unit was being disengaged. The cylindrical energy wall powered down until it fully disappeared.

Three sets of footsteps were heard approaching the cell. Two Police Navis advanced ahead to the deactivated cell to give Roll a final scan before escorting her out. The third NetNavi stepped forth to welcome her back to the outside.

"You made it, Roll-chan," Rockman cheered, giving a thumbs-up. "I'm glad you're finally free."

"… Rockman," Roll mumbled hesitantly, keeping her arms close in front of her.

"Something wrong?" Rockman asked.

The blue Navi was answered with a sudden leaping hug from Roll, practically tackling him off the ground and onto his back. The Police Navis were not sure how to react to the situation as they were given strict orders and assurance that Roll was clean, but the latest action they witnessed was closely bordering on the line of assault.

"Rockman!" Roll cried loudly, clinging tightly to the sheepish Navi. "I missed you!"

"But I visited you every day like I promised," Rockman pointed out while wiping her tears off her face and his outfit.

"It's not the same!" Roll wailed back, gazing back at him with adorably shimmering green eyes. "I miss being close to you! I miss your touch! I miss everything!"

"R-Roll-chan, calm down," Rockman requested, unsure how much more of his friend's pent-up emotional burden he could bear. He placed a hand to a side of her face and stroked her gently to get her to relax. "You've finished your sentence now. That's all that matters."

"T-T-True," Roll hiccupped, regaining control of her emotions while wiping away the remainder of her tears. "B-But after everything I've done to you, to Medi, and to our friends, you still f-forgive me?"

"It's all in the past now," Rockman assured, rubbing an arm of hers. "Now can you please get off me?"

Roll nodded with a quick sniffle, kinda wishing that they spent a bit longer in that position. Nonetheless, she stood back on her feet and helped Rockman up as to stay on his good side. The Police Navis appeared poised, but Rockman also reassured that nothing bad was to happen at this point.

"It's really sweet how Rockman still bore with Roll," Meiru commented fondly with shimmering eyes. "Don't you think so too, Netto?"

"I suppose, but is Roll ready to leave yet?" Netto inquired impatiently. "We still need time to get to the airport to greet Jasmine."

"Geez, you could be a bit more supportive here, baka," Meiru reprimanded. "I'm getting my NetNavi back after a long month and you're ruining the moment!"

"What? What did I do now?" Netto groaned, taken aback from his friend's snippy front. "Rockman and I came here with you and I'm also happy that Roll is rejoining us now."

"But then you come around complaining about being late to pick up Jasmine," Meiru retorted, seizing the dense brunette by the collar of his vest. "I'm your friend here too! You could at least be considerate of that!"

* * *

 _Cyber World_

"… I'm guessing not much has changed between them?" Roll queried, watching her Operator beat up Netto on a screen interface from the cyber world.

"They haven't really spent a lot of time together since Meiru was usually here waiting for you," Rockman answered, chuckling nervously as Netto's stomach now faced the blunt of Meiru's right foot. There should be gratitude that she didn't aim lower than that. "And don't go blaming yourself on what's happening right now."

"I know," Roll replied, both amused and disturbed from the ongoing and potentially violent interaction. "I know those two well enough that this is kinda normal, but oddly enough, Meiru-chan is not as easily hot-tempered as before."

"And Netto-kun isn't as tactless previously," Rockman added. "Maybe there have been some changes the past month. Who would have thought?"

"Yeah," Roll hummed, looking away in brief reluctance as a result of the next question she wanted to ask. "Hey, how are you and… Medi doing?"

"Medi-chan and I are really close," Rockman replied, not catching the brief expression of pain the pink Navi harbored. "We're actually going to meet her at the Densan airport once we leave here."

"I see," Roll said calmly. "I guess they were bound to arrive sooner or later. Meiru-chan mentioned to me when I was allowed to be active again that you were planning to take her to the fall festival."

"Not just her," Rockman clarified. "I'm taking you and the rest of our friends here, like Gutsman, Glyde, Iceman, Aquaman, and Numberman. I'm sure more will show up when we meet them there."

"Oh, how sweet of you to do so," Roll commented, smiling sincerely. "It'd be nice to see everyone again. I just hope I didn't leave too bad of an impression."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure the others will leave you alone regarding the 'incident'," Rockman promised. "We're close friends after all, Roll-chan."

"Yeah… just friends," Roll repeated in a whispered sullen voice.

"Hey, Rockman! You guys ready to go?" Netto's voice echoed.

"I'm returning to the PET now, Netto-kun," Rockman announced, preparing to plug out. "Let's give Jasmine and Medi-chan a warm Densan welcome."

"Right!" Netto cheered.

Now left by herself with the exception of the Police Navis that have been standing around the deactivated cell unit, Roll seemed to be staring out into cyberspace for a few seconds before her Operator started to call for her.

"Roll, are you feeling alright?" Meiru's voice inquired.

"Sorry, I'm coming back now," Roll answered back, reestablishing her link to her PET to plug out. "At least it'll be nice to be back in my PET again. Home sweet PET."

* * *

 _10:00 AM_

"See? I told you we'd make it to the airport on time," Meiru admonished. "We even got here ten minutes before the announced estimate of the plane's arrival."

"Okay, I get it," Netto interrupted. "No need to rub it in."

" _Attention, ongoing passengers and valued guests!_ " the airport PA announced. " _The aircraft that departed from Choina is preparing to dock. Please stay clear of the alley ways for the occupants to leave without hindrance. Thank you!_ "

"She should be here at any moment now," Netto commented, looking at his PET for the time.

"They're just getting off the plane, Netto," Meiru pointed out, sounding somewhat annoyed. "Plus, there're probably a lot of passengers before we can find−."

"Netto!" a familiar, high-pitched female voice called.

Looking to where the sensation came from, Netto and Meiru glanced over to the upper levels of the airport and found their Choina guest running halfway through a bridge without a care in the world.

Using the momentum from her run, she took a great leap over the railing and opened up her bamboo umbrella to control her descent. The umbrella, however, was opened for a seconds before she promptly closed it, going for a speedy dive towards the main floor. Netto gaped as it somehow turned into a three-spin somersault, in which she stuck the landing perfectly well despite her fair, high-inched shoes not being the ideal footwear to perform such invigorating acrobatics.

All that while having both her umbrella and roll-on luggage in her hands.

"That… was… amazing!" Netto exclaimed, regaining his breath after holding it in during the entrance performance.

"Showoff," Meiru murmured enviously, pouting off to the side.

"You're gonna have a tough time topping that one, Jasmine!" Netto remarked.

"I was just excited to see you guys again," Jasmine replied, grinning cheerfully. "You look well, Netto! And you too, Meiru! Your hair looks really lovely by the way."

"Huh? Oh… yeah, thanks," Meiru mumbled, feeling a bit regretful for her last comment. "So, uh… how was your flight?"

"It was nice, not too bumpy or shaky," Jasmine answered. "Anyway, I actually have some big news I want to share with you guys."

"You do?" Meiru asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Netto said, tapping the bottom of his fist into an open palm. "You said in your last email that you had something sounding really important."

"And you didn't even tell me about it?" Meiru interrupted irately.

"Sorry about that, it must've slipped, Meiru-chan," Netto responded with a nervous chuckle, holding his hands up.

"How about I share what's going on as we make it to my apartment here?" Jasmine suggested. "I still had a lot of money left over to rent it out for whenever I stay in Japan. It's a good investment and I'll explain why it is."

* * *

 _Cyber World_

"Rock-kun! It's so nice to be with you again!" Medi exclaimed, immediately seizing the ecstatic blue Navi in her arms and warmly snuggling with him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Medi-chan," Rockman replied, grinning rather goofily as he was still not used to this much cyber-physical affection. "How have you and Jasmine been the past month?"

"We accomplished a lot together and learned more ways of making effective medicine," Medi explained, relaxing herself into clinging onto Rockman's right arm. "Jasmine studied especially hard so that she can get the time off at this time, for us to join you for your fall festival."

"You two must be getting better at heal each day then," Rockman surmised.

"I hope we are," Medi concurred fondly. "We don't want to lose anyone close to us ever. Anyway, what's new with you?"

"Nothing much, though I did share in my messages to you that Netto-kun and I have done some minor Net Savior missions," Rockman began. "There was a couple that we had to team up with Enzan and Blues, but those were the more urgent ones."

"Are you at liberty to share?"

"There's still a major problem with innocent NetNavis getting a hold of Dark Chips and accidentally using them as some turned out to be disguised as regular Battle Chips, so we've been working on eliminating any place that's dispensing them and administering the Vaccine Chips to the Navis that have been taken over by the Soul of Darkness."

"That sounds really dangerous, Rock-kun."

"It actually wasn't as hard as it seemed. It turns out that Medi Soul helped in repairing the corrupted data when we were running low on Vaccine Chips, so I've improved a bit in healing as well. It's still not as great as your abilities, but still I've really got you to thank for this, Medi-chan."

"Oh, Rock-kun~…"

"Ahem," a third voice coughed abruptly.

"What was that?" Medi inquired, looking over Rockman's shoulder to find the source. "Oh, my."

"Did I also mention that Roll-chan finished her jail sentence and was just released this morning?" Rockman added a little too quickly.

"I see," Medi responded neutrally.

Sensing that this had to be resolved one way or another, Rockman slipped out of the nurse Navi's grip, allowing the connection between her and Roll to flow uninterrupted. They both stared at each other in the eye impassively.

A few awkward seconds later, Roll took the first step forward, only for Medi to mimic her. They cautiously approached each other until there were merely a few feet apart standing before one another.

"Hey," Roll greeted halfheartedly.

"Hi," Medi replied coolly. "Didn't even know you were here."

"It must've been because all of your senses were easily distracted by one factor," Roll responded. "It's not exactly the best state to be in when behind enemy lines. So careless."

Medi felt her eye twitch, but remained collected nonetheless.

"I guess you would certainly know about such things when you've been an enemy yourself," Medi shot back, earning a low wavering grumble from the pink Navi. "Look, I came here to have fun and not start another fight. I won already and I'm not likely to give up my spoils of war any time soon. I'm sorry, but it is what it is."

"I know," Roll huffed, struggling to keep her temper down. "That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be close to him, you know. You may have the privilege of holding his hand wherever you go right now, but I have the advantage of being close to him no matter what happens."

"I have to give you some respect for holding in like this, aside from being a reliable NetNavi in pinches," Medi admitted. "I'm certainly not going to relax if you're still this dedicated."

"Is it because you know that I care for him more than you can hope to reach?" Roll goaded.

"No, it's because I don't want to have to experience another tragedy of losing him because of your uncontrollable obsession," Medi countered, the volume of her voice gradually rising.

It was there that both female NetNavis suddenly closed in the distance with their sneering faces and cute angry growls, igniting their competitive rivalry of love once more with that ferocious spark crackling from between their clashing glares.

 _At least it's a start with Roll-chan out of her imprisonment_ , Rockman thought, sweatdropping as he was thinking of a way to stop a fight from breaking out. It was too soon. "Hey, Medi-chan. Didn't Jasmine say that she had something 'big' she wanted to share with Netto-kun?"

Fortune shone upon the blue Navi as the call of his voice actually broke the two warring girls from their confrontation. Even Roll became curious on what she had to say and backed off a bit.

"Yes, actually," Medi answered. "Jasmine and I will be moving into Japan for the time being."

"… Huh?" Roll gaped.

* * *

 _Real World_

"No way," Meiru commented, surprised by this turn of events Jasmine just shared.

"Medi and I asked Jii-chan if we could do something similar to studying abroad," Jasmine continued as the three of them were walking to her apartment.

"And he said yes?" Netto asked to be sure.

"Of course!" Jasmine replied with a wide smile. "Now I don't have to leave Japan so soon once the fall festival ends and I get to be with you for a bit longer. Medi is also thrilled to be spending more time with Rockman."

"That was definitely big news alright," Netto remarked. "Now we can see each other more often!"

"Yeah," Meiru cheered, albeit weakly. "How long do you plan staying here?"

"Jii-chan said that it's up to me to determine how long I stay in one place," Jasmine explained. "I can even return home if I get homesick, but now he's given me his blessing to travel the world and grow from lots of experience. But for now, I want to stay in Japan for a while longer and be with you guys, not to mention the animals I helped take care of."

"Wow, it'll be just like we're next door neighbors," Netto jested.

"Hmm," Meiru grunted.

"Hey, there's my apartment up ahead!" Jasmine exclaimed, pointing forward to the tall gray building looming overhead. "I hope everything left in it has been untouched. It'd probably be dusty though since it's been a while since I lived there."

Out of excitement and nostalgia, the Choina girl ran ahead, leaving her luggage behind in her wake. Ever being the loyal friend and having been strictly raised to be a gentleman by his mother, Netto chased after her while pulling the roll-on luggage along.

Meiru blinked several times in succession, trying to figure out what just happened. Before she could go after them, Roll's tiny holographic suddenly appeared floating in front of her face.

"Meiru-chan, did you know that they're staying in Japan longer than expected?" Roll shared.

"Yeah, she told us along the way," Meiru confirmed. "It's hard to believe."

"You're going to lose Netto to her," Roll warned. "Just like I have lost Rockman to Medi."

The young red-haired girl looked at her NetNavi before pensively glancing over to where Netto and Jasmine ran ahead to, which was entering the apartment building's main entrance. With a heavy sigh, she walked on to catch up to them. Roll went up to sit on one of her shoulders.

"Maybe I might lose him," Meiru mumbled, showing no particular emotion on her face. "But I don't feel angry or fearful about it for some reason."

"What do you mean?" Roll queried.

"I haven't given up on Netto, just as you haven't given up on Rockman," Meiru said. "However, I have this feeling that he and Jasmine are not actually going to get together. Just call it a woman's intuition."

"You can't win without taking any sort of action!" Roll chided.

"Of course I'm not just going to sit back hoping that he'd fall into my arms, but I just feel… confident that it's going to work out somehow. Anyway, how do you plan on getting Rockman back?"

"I have a couple of plans for the fall festival that should convince him that I'm the one he should be with."

"Does it involve the Halloween costume you're planning to wear?"

"Yes! I asked Rockman on what he is going as and I'm going to dress as something complementary to him. I'd definitely like to see Medi try to top me. I don't think she even knows we're part of Gabcom's cultural awareness showcase, so she'll probably show up with no costume."

"I'm not so sure about that, Roll."

Meiru wasn't sure if her NetNavi had missed the memo completely, but she didn't have the heart to tell her that there was a high percent chance that Netto and Rockman were telling Jasmine and Medi everything about what the fall festival entails, including their volunteering to showcase Western traditions.

In any case, it was time to settle in and prepare for the fun of the Densan fall festival.

* * *

 **Just in case any of you were not aware or had forgotten, Gabcom is the Japanese name of the company that Yaito's father works at. You might be more familiar with the English name being AyanoTech.**

 **Also for future awareness, it looks like I won't be able to update as frequently as I have, mostly because of the semester picking up. So for those that have been accustomed to me updating weekly, so sorry about that. Really, I am.**

 **Please review!**


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